November 27, 2017

The Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) is an important vehicle for expanding infrastructure investment in Africa. At the 6th EU-Africa Business Forum (EABF) on 27 November 2017, which takes place on the sidelines of the 5th African Union-European Union Summit, in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, various stakeholders will gather to discuss how to enable and leverage investments for PIDA projects.

Drawing on an introductory note on PIDA, its achievements and future challenges and the insights on selected PIDA Projects including its impact on job creation, the objective of the session during the sixth EU-Africa Business Forum is to help build a strong economic case for accelerated investments for PIDA, with a particular focus on the selected projects as facilitators for job creation in the continent.

Session highlights: The Panel discussion will focus on the following PIDA projects: the Batoka Gorge Hydro Electric Scheme, the Ethiopia-Sudan Interconnector, the Kinshasa-Brazzaville Bridge, the Dar-Chalinze Toll Road and the Zambia-Tanzania-Kenya Power Interconnector. The session will give an understanding of the status of the selected projects, the challenges that they are facing in their implementation process as well as the way forward.

Senior representatives of multilateral agencies and institutions will discuss the progress of initiatives at the global and regional levels to boost infrastructure development with specificial focus on PIDA in emerging economies. What is being done to make public-private partnerships more effective on the ground? How can PIDA projects become more viable for private and institutional capital?

Among the topics panelists will address are:

About 1/3 of more than 433 PIDA projects are operational or under construction. What are the key issues that need to be addressed to bring the remaining PIDA projects to financial close?

How could PIDA’s key partners contribute to the closure of the infrastructure gap in Africa?

How could we jointly mobilize resources for capacity building and project preparation to accelerate implementation of selected PIDA projects?

How do PIDA’s key partners assess the bankability of the presented projects and what could be done to leverage investment to these projects?

What are the concrete measures and instruments developed by partners which could potentionally help unlock infrastructure investments?

What are the results in terms of improved infrastructure delivery partners expect to achieve with initiatives taken by partners?

What could member states and decision makers do to push their infrastructure projects and include it in their national development plans?

What can be done to unlock private investment for infrastructure?

What can be done to make sure that infrastructure investments benefit the African youth in terms of providing decent jobs for them?

What are the current challenges in coordinating PIDA?

Key findings from this panel discussion will inform the declaration of the EABF, which will in turn be included into the AU-EU Summit declaration.